Germany’s Chancellor Merkel has criminal complaint filed against her for bin Laden comments

The world is officially nuts. I’m not sure how else you classify what follows. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany recently remarked on the death of mass murderer Osama bin Laden saying was “glad” he’d been killed. That prompted the following from a German judge:

But Hamburg judge Heinz Uthmann went even further. He alleges that the chancellor’s statement was nothing short of illegal, and filed a criminal complaint against Merkel midweek, the daily Hamburger Morgenpost reported Friday.

"I am a law-abiding citizen and as a judge, sworn to justice and law," the 54-year-old told the paper, adding that Merkel’s words were "tacky and undignified."

In his two-page document, Uthmann, a judge for 21 years, cites section 140 of the German Criminal Code, which forbids the "rewarding and approving" of crimes. In this case, Merkel endorsed a "homicide," Uthmann claimed. The violation is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine.

"For the daughter of a Christian pastor, the comment is astonishing and at odds with the values of human dignity, charity and the rule of law," Uthmann told the newspaper.

Of course the judge is assuming it’s a “homicide” (certainly no proof exists that’s the case) and thus a criminal act. In fact, the Geneva Conventions will clearly show otherwise. Obviously he files his complaint with nothing more than his opinion as a basis.

So you say, it’s one extremist view, why get excited about it?

While the judge’s reaction may seem extreme, his sentiments are apparently shared by 64 percent of the German population. That was the proportion of Germans who said bin Laden’s death was "no reason to rejoice" in a poll published by broadcaster ARD on Friday.

Germany – never a bastion of human rights or individual freedoms – continues to live up to its past with a new extremist but pacifist twist. This is an example of absurdity masquerading as reason, extremism as normalcy and stupidity as compassion.

Everyone who loves freedom and hates mass murderers should be “glad” Osama bin Laden has been killed. He was a monster, just like one which once ruled the land this puffed up pratt Uthman lives in. As much as Germans claim to have been “disgusted” with the “jubilation” over OBL’s death, nonsense like this does them no favor. The disgust on this side of the Atlantic for a country that assaults free speech and protects the memory of a mass murderer by going after those who express satisfaction at his demise isn’t one that I or most anyone here would ever care to live in.

I’m beginning to think that the worst possible thing that could have happened to the Germans was the fall of the Iron Curtain. Before then, the peacenik one worlders were a vocal minority primarily complaining about how we planned to create a nuclear wasteland from Fulda to the Rhine in a vain attempt to stop the Soviet hordes. And of course the rule was, the closer you got to the IGB, the more smiles you got from the citizenry. I found the Bundeswher officers and NCOs to have a level of professionalism on par with the US, UK and Canadians. The enlisted draftees were less impressive. Probably not a lot different from the way our peacetime draftees (from post war Korea to 1965) treated their service. A necessary evil.
Since then it seems the Germans have taken the whole End of History thing way too seriously. Despite what they might think, you won’t be taken seriously as a world power unless you have a world class military.

Yet Germany’s economy is doing very well. Yes, they stand on principle — they actually believe that a human death is not to be celebrated. It was a job that had to be done, but to rejoice in death is nercophilia. Of course Shark, still scared to his bones of Muslims and sharia, tries to claim that it’s taking over Europe. Anyone who knows anything about Europe (like, say a Ph.D. with a specialty in European politics and who teaches and publishes on it) knows that such a claim is absolutely absurd — laughingly silly, making birtherism look respectable. But hey, if you’re comfortable in your Islamophobia, jealous of Germany’s economic success, and angry about how the old 20th century ideas are being rejected by a new generation, well, I guess all you have is such bitterness. LOL!
And to try to connect Germany of 2011 to Germany over 70 years ago?! LOL! Fear and loathing…what a way to live!

“Yet Germany’s economy is doing very well.”
Which is both utterly besides the point and because they haven’t had any socialist QE to the degree we have.
“Yes, they stand on principle — they actually believe that a human death is not to be celebrated.”
Which is still besides the point and just goes to show the Germans lurched to a different and idiotic and atrocious extreme from an extreme which was an abject atrocity. If Merkel is convicted of anything it will be relatively venial sin against human liberty and dignity, but still such sin.
The only principle involved here worth respecting is the one the Germans are denigrating, the right of free speech.
The only thing worth celebrating is the death of Bin Laden, an obituary even the Dalai Lama seemed to find to be appropriate if overdue.

“Anyone who knows anything about Europe (like, say a Ph.D. with a specialty in European politics and who teaches and publishes on it)”

Such a person would have a clue about the basics of strategic warfare, especially if they had spent more than a few hours studying Germany. Erb, if you ever meet such a person, open your mind, and learn some actual history and along with finding out about strategy, you’ll learn that the Germany of today was greatly shaped by events from 70 years ago, much more so than most countries other than Japan. Combine that with a high-school geometry class so you can learn the basics of logical thought, and maybe you’ll be able to add ideas to a discussion instead of talking points and insults.

If the Germans (and others) really supported all human life on principle, they would see the large number of net lives saved by the invasion of Iraq and acknowledge that in at least one respect, they were wrong to oppose it. Until then, it’s not a principle, it’s a political position with little regard to fact.

Net lives saved by staring a war in Iraq? That’s insane. The excuse was based upon false intelligence and the net effect was tens of thousands dead, daily bombings, huge US debt, weakened military status, and loss of moral position.
All decent people should have opposed the invasion.

Far fewer Iraqis have died a non-natural death since the war started than in the dozen years immediately prior (by a factor of nearly five to one). That fact alone doesn’t settle the argument over whether the war justified or worthwhile, but viewed objectively on this one principle, it has proven to be a net plus.

So how do you feel about the US government waging war on Libya now? The excuse of humanitarian mission certainly looks like a lie when it turns out that Gaddafi’s home was target, his son and grandchildren killed.
How does that sit with you?
You think Obama deserves to keep the Nobel Peace Prize—or rather, whether it was a huge mistake to give it to him just for being non-Bush?

Oh, I’m much too busy thinking about the spirituality of quantum physics and planning my Italy trip to think about Libya. That’s already decided, anyway. You know, demographics and anachronism and stagnancy and all that.

I just had to stop in briefly and do some moral preening serious advising to you dense, inbred, sterile, unprincipled righties. Naturally, I come here because you have interesting perspectives, even though you are unprincipled and ignorant, what with you not having my published works on German foreign policy, which is not either just a book by a vanity press that suckers social science academics and that no one of consequence ever read, so just stop saying that!

You guys rejoice in death, and that’s nercophilia. I think. Maybe necrophilia. I get those Latin-based words mixed up sometimes. But I know for sure that you guys are Islamophobic, jealous of Germany, and angry that a new generation has been indoctrinated in is devoted to new ideas about the glorious leftist utopia that Obama, who thinks like me, is helping to foster. Peace be upon him.

And all that stuff about Islam taking over Europe, how silly! So don’t start up with all the demographic charts and graphs, and how Mohammed is the most popular baby name in Britain, just don’t start. Demographics only count when I say they do, in the Middle East. They mean nothing in Europe. I decree it. Which I can do because of my advanced degree, degree, degree, degree, degree, degree, degree [*** AUTOMATIC RESET FOR PARSING BUG IN CREDENTIAL FLOUTING SUBROUTINE***]

Yep, you guys make birtherism look silly, you’re so ignorant. But you have interesting perspectives. And there’s no contradiction there, so stop saying that. And I don’t either come here to have someone to talk down to, and all my stuff about publications and my advanced degree, degree, degree, degree, degree, degree, degree [*** AUTOMATIC RESET FOR PARSING BUG IN CREDENTIAL FLOUTING SUBROUTINE***] isn’t either indication of talking down to you or argument from authority. I decree all that, by the holy power of post-modernism. Which I don’t buy. Except when I do.

Anyway, Obama certainly does deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, for his christlike visage if nothing else. He is helping sweep away all those obsolete ideas you thick righties champion – you know, honor and personal responsibility and military stuff and all that claptrap. We don’t need any of that in our utopia-to-come, in which you are told what to think and do by wise pragmatic leftist moderates like me with our advanced degree, degree, degree, degree, degree, degree, degree [***BUFFER OVERFLOW ON CREDENTIAL BUG EXCEPTION HANDLING. PROGRAM RESTART INITIATED***]

Err, FYI, all deaths of a human being caused by another human being are homicides, they are not criminal unless they are found unjustified in the eyes of the law. Manslaughter is one subset of homicides, murder is another, and justification by self defense another still.

Yeah, no sh*t. For anybody outside of the jihadis to be upset or even mildly perturbed that bin Laden, a mass murderer, is dead is incomprehensible. It’s a measure, I think, of the truly irrational hatred people have for Bush: the WoT was HIS thing. Therefore, any success must be bad. Further, Bush’s enemies must be, if not good, then at least not all that bad.

Too funny that Angela ‘Naked Shorts’ Merkel gets caught up in the very same law she uses to harrass German dissenters who don’t agree with her or even official Holocaust death estimates.Usually those found guilty of such an unthinkable thought crime in Germany get almost the same amount of years as if they’d commited the crime they commented on.Ha.

I thought she should have gone to jail for lieing about Euro bonds being (ha),’naked shorted’,but instead Germany gets the NYSE franchise for lieing about naked short selling bringing down the market.Just like her fellow and Barack Obama et.al.’s terrorist ally Sheikh Mohamed Al Rashid bin Maktoum who got over 20%+ ownership of the former U.S.NASDAQ – all because his country has hosted untold money laundering for the likes of Slick Dick Cheney and his Haliburton mafia happily ensconced in that ‘democratic’ Arab alley’s kingdom of Dubai.Also that Sheik(Mohammed Al Rashid bin
Maktoum) who we all adore(certainly Bill Clinton and the Bush family do) and his Kingdom or Shiekdom or whatever of Dubai is the one who allowed the $100,000 to be sent by the infamously tortured Kalid Sheik Mohamed from on to Venice,Florida for Mohamed Atta(of Germany fame),who was training at Jeb Bush’s pal Wally Hilliard’s terrorist flight training school by two Dutch,Holland or Netherlands boys(Rudi Dekkers and Arne Kruithof) at Huffman Aviation in Venice,Florida..

The 9/11 Commission report,or whitewash,mentions Atta cashing that substantial cashiers check at the Kwik-Chek in Venice,Florida but omits mention of Makram Chams who was the owner of that Kwik-Chek .As it turned out Mr.Makram Chams,a Lebanese American ‘gentleman’ turns out to have been an employee of of the military industrial Titan Corp of San Diego now owned by Level-3 Corporation who did so well in the military indudtrial private sector and even played a role at Abu Ghraibe.I presume Angela was pleased about that as well…just too shy to admit it.

Merkel supports the fraudulent naked short selling claims of far right criminal stock fraud operators coincidentally with Beltway or Washington, D.C. and probable CIA connections,(called NCANS or National Coalition Against Naked Shorting),that gave its address as Cheetah Club lap dance joint in Las Vegas and that has registered their worthless shares on the German exchanges for years with not a word of complaint from Angela Merkel previously(nor presently) ! Patrick Byrne of Overstock.com is son of Geico billionaire Jack Byrne who is connected to Warren Buffett…

nackt in german means naked

Leerverkauf in German means short selling

Put them together and what do you get ? ‘Naked Short Selling’ !,German
Chancelloress Angela Merkel’s favorite subject(ha) and also a term created and popularized in American english by U.S.government protected far right penny stock criminals and money launderers.
Maybe someone should call Interpol….

Please explain. Obviously you have no clue what´s goin on here in germany. While you seem to allude to what took place here in germany in the second WW you seem to have no idea that exactly this ugly part of our history is literally forcing us to an immense extent of what you call “individual freedoms” and is yet the reason why some judge came up with the idea of targeting Merkel with such a – for you ridiculous looking – complaint. Germans can´t even fart anymore without getting accused harming or threatening another ones life, specially when it comes to the middle east. The reputation they gained through the Holocaust is sticking on germans like a piece of tar. Individual freedom became a hot spot – as soon there is passed a new bill, that looks only a wee bit restrictive, no matter if for good or not, specially americans point on our government and say “Ah look, the old socialists again”.

I know life in germany and in the US and I can tell you my individual freedom here is definately way more wide-ranging like in the US. But so it is for immigrants too, cause we can´t really show any patriotism here that doesn´t make us looking xenophobic again. Go on the Times Square and celebrate Osama´s dead and people call you a proud american – go on a german public place, do the same and the next day you can read in the news how a bunch of Nazis barbarically celebrated the death of a muslim. “Celebrating” the death of an enemy, no matter of what piece of cloth the enemy was made, is not the same like in the US, believe me. And this has nothing to do with a lack of “Individual Freedom”, this is about our history. Keep that in mind.

No offence, but this article is another example of someone who is intelligent beyond their education.

If Merkel is charged with a human rights violation for expressing gladness at Obama’s death, and the German legal community does not shun, shut down, and drive to an apology the person in that community who brings the charge–if the German population does not demand it–then Germany still has no idea what human rights are.
And hasn’t since at least since the fight in the Teutoburg Wald.
But to be fair, the rest of humanity hasn’t been in any better shape until since 1775, and much still isn’t better now.

Do you really think that nobody is upset here in germany about waht that judge is doin´? And do you really think that an action like this is standing for the opnion of ALL germans? I mean, if you are in the US you are in a country where everyone can file an action against anyone practically cause of everything.
And don´t get me wrong, I don´t claim to be proud of everything here in germany, I´m not. But the article above is filled with chliché at its best.
My time in the US I experienced that free speech and individual freedom isn´t that what you would expect as well. Where are your human rights when members of the Westboro Babtist church spit on soldiers families on their funerals for example? Soldiers who fought and fell for YOUR country. You may call something like that the freedom of speech and just tolerate it – here in germany folks like that would be dragged to court for violating human dignity. And I´m grateful the government takes action against something like that, cause it´s simply disgraceful.

And by talking about individual freedom I really would like to know, if this personal individual freedom is such a fundamental right in the US, why you are still having such a huge problem with homosexuals over there? Young gays are getting excluded from their prom, from football teams and from the military. In this matter in the US “individual freedom” is getting very quickly changed into “unethical” or “immoral”.

I don´t support Merkel getting filed, to me it´s ridiculous like it is for you, but I have to say that the reaction to Osamas dead (It was Osama, not Obama btw, Tim, but common typo..I know) in the US awakened displeasure in me. I still have an american newspaper from september 12., from one day after the attack. There is a photograph of a bunch of muslim fundamentalists, holding up pictures of the burning WTC, dancing and singing and screaming “Allah is great!! Islam! Islam!!”. Below there was a caption that said how clearly that snapshot shows how awfully barbaric, disgraceful and inhumane their culture is. Yes – last week I´ve seen people celebrating on the Times Square, hoisting the faked dead corpse photo of Osama, dancing and yelling “USA!! USA!! Bless the Lord!!” – and it made me think about the american culture too.

Sorry, but I just say what I feel about that. I´m not versus the US in general, really not, but you are not better like germany when it comes to human rights or individual freedom – cause individual freedom is not only the right to buy a gun or to say what you want, it´s a question of tolerance too. And a lot of marginalized groups inofficially (some officially) still don´t have any rights in america. You are FAR more away from accepting all people equally like in germany.

Bruce, cause of Barack Obamas color you mean? Sorry, I have to ask that directly. If this is the question – YES, OF COURSE.
Alone how often germans have to answer this question shows me that most in the US have a completly wrong picture of germany. Why not? Why someone like Barack Obama shouldn´t become a Chancellor?
Germany was cheering for Obama during the elections like it was for their own country. No president since JFK got ever so much sympathy. I don´t know if you know how germans felt about Bush…but I can tell you the day Obama was moving in the office germans were celebrating. Obama is standing up for a lot of changes germany highly welcomes.
And in case you were really asking, cause of Obama being black. Absolutely no question, I´m saying this all honestly.

1)”…individual freedom is not only the right to buy a gun or to say what you want, it´s a question of tolerance too”
2)”here in germany folks like that would be dragged to court for violating human dignity. And I´m grateful the government takes action against something like that, cause it´s simply disgraceful.”

Here in the US we have something called “The Law of Holes”-if you are in one, stop digging. You should look into it.

It may be a matter of idiom, but there is nothing in this post:
…link removed to see if it’s why this won’t post…

Which makes it clear you do not agree with Merkel’s being charged with a human rights violation for the “crime” of speaking her mind. If in fact your post is in opposition to that charge, then your post speaks itself speaks to what Bruce does not then need to explain…your first post explains it.

Frida – Where are your human rights when members of the Westboro Babtist church spit on soldiers families on their funerals for example? Soldiers who fought and fell for YOUR country. You may call something like that the freedom of speech and just tolerate it – here in germany folks like that would be dragged to court for violating human dignity. And I´m grateful the government takes action against something like that, cause it´s simply disgraceful.

I think it fair to say that McQ, the other blog owners, and most of the regular commenters here detest Phelps, his “church”, and their odious activities. However, because we Americans (more or less) understand what human rights and individual freedoms are, we live with these things.* We understand – as Frida apparently does not – that once you get into the business of outlawing speech that you don’t like, it’s only a matter of time before somebody outlaws YOUR speech. When the government censors people, it’s not cause for gratitude: it’s cause for throwing some people out of office during the next election and giving some thought to other, stronger measures of protest.

Jebus… I often muse upon a line from a World War II movie that lampoons the nazi regime, but I never thought I’d see that the spirit of the Third Reich is so alive and well in Deutschland today:

“Freedom in [nazi] Germany is far superior to that in other countries, because it is carefully controlled and regulated by the state.” (paraphrase)

Night Train to Munich (1940)
dir. Carol Reed
spoken by Rex Harrison

—–

(*) I don’t mean to imply that every American is a die-hard libertarian who unfailingly lives the motto, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, but I think that MOST Americans at least understand the idea.

@docjim, to me there is a fine line between freedom of speech and harming another ones human dignity. If someone is harming another ones human dignity like in the case in mentioned (Westboro) I don´t mind at all there are laws against it. Attaching others cause of their ethnicity, sexuality or religion is no peccadillo and has nothing to do with “free speech” anymore. I don´t talk here about just speaking out your mind, I´m talking about harrassment and serious harm. Germany has its principles when it comes to human dignity and spitting on family members of soldiers, threatening them and disrupting their grief to me is something that cannot be tolerated.
If taking action against something like this incarnates the Nazi regime and the Third Reich for you, they because you WANT to see this in it. I call it civilised.

Lots of oppression of human rights has been done in the name of being “civilized”, Frida – that’s why we fight such attempts so hard here. We may completely disagree and find what is said to be both disgusting and contemptible (Westboro), but we’ll fight for your right to say it it. Freedom means the right to say contemptible and disgusting things. Only those afraid of freedom try to control it (and sorry but you have no right not to be offended). What we don’t want is the state deciding what is or isn’t “tolerable”. I’m not sure how many examples you have to see as to where that usually ends up, but the Merkel headline is a warning.

“to me there is a fine line between freedom of speech and harming another ones human dignity.”

That statement implies that if you have a problem with Merkel being charges as she has, it’s not because you approve of free speech. The freedom of speech is the freedom to harm someone else’s dignity in their or someone else’s eyes. It is no matter for government to address.

“Harming another one’s human dignity”? What does that mean? And who gets to decide?

Frida – Germany has its principles when it comes to human dignity…

Yes, that’s the point under discussion: apparently, Germany’s principles mean that the power of the state can be used to shut people up for criticizing der Furher or the Party “harming somebody’s human dignity”. In other words, if one offends the wrong person by merely saying something that they don’t want to hear, one can expect a visit from the Polizei. By the way, whose “human dignity” did das Merkel harm? Can’t be bin Laden’s, because he’s fishfood.

Actually, though, I can see how such a law could come in handy if we had it here. For example, when Michael Moore made that movie accusing George Bush of being behind the 9-11 attacks, Bush could simply have claimed that Moore was “harming my human dignity” and had fat Mikey thrown into prison. Ditto Will Ferrell: “That man’s impersonation of me harms my human dignity! Arrest him!” I’m sure that Sarah Palin’s human dignity would feel much better if she could have folks like Tina Fey, Bill Maher, and Andrew Sullivan thrown into prison for the mean, hateful things they’ve said about her. I mean, honestly: Maher publicly called her a c*nt. If that doesn’t harm her human dignity, I don’t know what does. On the other side of the political aisle, I’m feel confident that Obama, Hillary, and Pelosi could come up with a list of people who’ve harmed their dignity that would keep the police busy arresting people for quite some time.

Hmmm… maybe it’s a good idea that we DON’T have such a law here (yet).

I appreciate that fact that you want to see people treated decently and with respect, but criminalizing speech – even “offensive” speech – is a dangerous legal practice. The Germans ought to understand that better than just about anybody else on the planet.

What you may understand as “criminalizing free speech” in reality looks completely different. The laws here when it comes to this are very clear and don´t leave any room for capriciousness. Say what you want, but when you target someone cause of their nationality/ethnicity/color, existing mental or physical disability or you offend or harrass them in their grief – bottom line. This has nothing to do with despotism, these laws were manifested by plebiscite, exist since quite a long time and did never change. It´s not like tomorrow you can´t call anyone an assho** without going to jail anymore (sorry for the language, just randomly picked an example here). I find these simple fundamental laws very appropriate and civilized. And that I support those laws doen´t mean I support what that judge actually tried in Merkels case. That was ONE german and he´s not standing for all germans – like you mentioned above the members of the Baptist Church don´t stand for all americans either, right? What this judge did don´t have to be called a “warning”, cause he won´t have any success with it anyway. Attention seekers and self-appointed “rebels” exist everywhere, not only in our country. Our government set limits when it comes to particular cases of verbal and physical attacks (in agreement with the majority who voted for them), just like a government sets limits when it comes to human rights, animal abuse, traffic offence or any other kind of crime. Don´t get me wrong, but in america exist states where even “loitering”, oral sex or masturbation is indictable! Considering this questioning our laws when it comes to personal freedom makes me shaking my head in disbelief.

Got it – feelings are more important than the right of free speech. You have the “right” not to be offended which supersedes the right to speak you mind. And in Germany, that’s considered to be positive enforcement of rights?

Goodness.

As for the “laws” you cite, they are few and far between and most aren’t enforced (haven’t been for decades). Additionally, as you note, they only exist in some odd state or another. Some don’t exist at all anymore, having been struck down by courts as being restrictive of an individual’s rights. But most importantly, they’re not FEDERAL laws which trash your inherent right to speech in favor of “feelings”, are they? And, of course, because they’re state laws, you always have the choice of whether to live there or not, if you find them offensive.